Yeah, the first thing that struck me was that the graphics seemed noticeably downgraded. I guess it could be because they're adding more elements to the gameplay each year, so need to free up a bit more cpu and ram to handle it.
I thought it was ok after the first couple of matches, but by the 3rd, was already getting fed up with it. It has some brilliant stuff, some really beautifully random moments and complex physics, yet it will be followed up 2 seconds later by some atrocious junk.
The inertia stuff is a step in the right direction but it seems the cpu players aren't affected by it nearly as much as human controlled players (what a surprise...). Far too often, the cpu defenders just go from standing start to instant full speed, with zero inertia or reaction times afflicting them. And all the cpu players can suddenly develop the dribbling, ball-control, balance and agility of Messi whenever they need to.
It is, at times, horribly reminiscent of Euro2008, when playing against teams like Leichtenstein would be the hardest, because every player was like Messi and dribble around impeccably, keeping possession for ages, but they just wouldn't ever score.
There's just something uneven about it...fast and slow....stop and start....like the players are on elastic ropes and suddenly move really fast, then slow and cumbersome.
Like previous years, the only reason I would buy this is for online play...but even that has become progressively worse in recent years, with the horribly obvious momentum scripts.